


So turn down a glass for such as they, and thank God we’re sitting here

by ArtemisTheHuntress, deliverusfromsburb, G_J_Smith



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Drinking, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Podcast Girls Week, Post-Finale, Screenplay/Script Format, minlace if you squint - Freeform, we named the Hermes crew because they deserve it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25170910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisTheHuntress/pseuds/ArtemisTheHuntress, https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliverusfromsburb/pseuds/deliverusfromsburb, https://archiveofourown.org/users/G_J_Smith/pseuds/G_J_Smith
Summary: Minkowski, Hera, and Lovelace toast to the memories of dead friends, and dead enemies.
Relationships: Hera & Isabel Lovelace, Hera & Renée Minkowski, Isabel Lovelace & Renée Minkowski
Comments: 9
Kudos: 21
Collections: Podcast Girls Week





	So turn down a glass for such as they, and thank God we’re sitting here

U.S.S. URANIA - BATHROOM - 2200 HOURS  


One week after the conclusion of the Hephaestus mission. 

The door opens and Lovelace enters, squeezing herself into the small space. She’s carrying a bulky duffel bag that clinks when she moves. 

LOVELACE

This is everything from storage. I left out the rubbing alcohol. With our luck we might still need it. 

MINKOWSKI

Do you think there’s any left in… anyone’s personal quarters? 

HERA

Jacobi had me lock those down the first night. No one else is getting in. 

MINKOWSKI

Right. Well, what’s important is that Eiffel -- 

She trips over the name and then corrects herself, forcefully. 

MINKOWSKI

Doug can’t find it by accident. That should be good enough. 

Lovelace unzips the duffel bag and pulls out a wine bottle. She uncorks it, takes a quick sip before the liquid can float away, and then dumps most of it down the vacuum toilet. 

LOVELACE

If only Lambert could see me now. Drinking on duty _and_ misusing critical equipment. 

She looks at the bottle in her hand and then raises it in a toast. 

LOVELACE

Breaking regulations one last time for you, Sam, albeit with the approval of my commanding officer, which I guess oughta make your ghost happy. 

Minkowski pulls out the next bottle, opens it, and takes a sip of her own. 

MINKOWSKI

I’ll drink to that. 

LOVELACE

I'd make some crack about the ignobility of a final send-off of illegal booze in a space toilet... but even now as I'm saying that it just feels tacky. 

(wry snort)

Especially as I barely remember what his actual funeral was like anyway. It was probably more respectful than this. 

MINKOWSKI

(hesitant, not wanting to imply anything about Lovelace's selfhood, but:) 

Are you feeling okay? Is the-- distance from the star affecting you, or-- 

LOVELACE

Nah, I was just... extremely mentally and emotionally out of it after Lambert died. That whole week is mostly a haze. 

MINKOWSKI

Ah. 

LOVELACE

Here's to you, Sam. I probably never said that properly, and you deserve it said properly. 

(pours the rest of the bottle into the space toilet)

Be thou at peace. 

MINKOWSKI

(murmuring in agreement)

May his memory be a blessing. 

Minkowski pours her own bottle down the space toilet. Two down. 

LOVELACE

And Hui and Fourier and Rhea never got funerals at all. 

MINKOWSKI

No? 

LOVELACE

By the time Hui died... it was bad. I was in bad shape. We all were. I think I felt like if I stopped, for anything, it would all crumble down and we'd never pick up again. And after that... everything happened so fast and I was so... well. You saw what I was like at that point. 

HERA

"Out of it" wouldn't be a bad descriptor. 

LOVELACE

Polite. Let's go with that. 

HERA

Are all people supposed to get funerals, after they die? Every time? 

LOVELACE

Generally, yeah. A funeral, a wake, some sort of... acknowledgement. That they died. That they lived. That they mattered to you. 

MINKOWSKI

You were under a lot of stress. 

LOVELACE

No kidding. But... we've got a lot of booze. And a lot of people who died. It's just us left. But we're under less stress now. 

MINKOWSKI

True. 

LOVELACE

And we could both use a drink. 

MINKOWSKI

Very true. 

Minkowski neatly puts the empty bottles away for proper disposal. Lovelace opens the next one. There’s a pop and a hiss of carbonation, and she raises it in a toast. 

LOVELACE

So it’s long past due, but: to Kuan Hui. 

MINKOWSKI

To Kuan Hui. 

Minkowski never met Lovelace’s crewmembers, but she’s heard Lovelace’s stories about them. Knows what they meant to her. And knows now how it feels to fly away from the Hephaestus leaving ghosts behind. 

LOVELACE

You were funny, you were brilliant, and you were right about psi-waves, and I promise to honor your memory by rubbing that in the face of everyone at the American Astronomical Society for you. 

It becomes a rhythm. A toast, a memory, a drink. 

LOVELACE (cont.)

To Victoire Fourier. You were braver than you ever thought you were, and I wouldn’t be here without you. And I know it’s stupid but I still hold onto the hope that you slid into an alternate dimension where nobody died and everyone’s happy, because who knows, that’s the sort of thing that probably happens around here. 

To Rhea. You were stubborn and curious and I know you wanted to learn everything about the universe, and you were on your way there. With everything you did learn, I wouldn’t be here without you, either. 

And… because we’re here and I can’t leave him out now and there’s still more brandy: to Mason Fisher. I don’t know what to say that I didn’t say last time, except, back when you were what held our crazy crew together I always used to joke that without you we’d all self-destruct within the month. And. Well. Look what happened, huh. 

She pauses, then very quietly, like she isn’t sure how to say it, but can’t leave it unsaid all the same, 

LOVELACE (cont.)

...and to the first Isabel Lovelace. Because I’m here, and you’re not. So. I'll remember for the both of us. 

A long pause. Minkowski shifts uncomfortably. There’s something she wants to say, but she doesn’t know how the other two will react. Finally, 

MINKOWSKI

To Alexander Hilbert. 

Lovelace sighs and clinks her bottle against Minkowski’s. 

LOVELACE

To Elias Selberg. 

MINKOWSKI

You were a monster, but you were mine, and I’m sorry. 

LOVELACE

I’ll miss you even though I shouldn’t, and I won’t forgive you for that. 

Lovelace takes a big gulp. 

MINKOWSKI

May your memory be... something, at least. 

Lovelace’s bottle is mostly gone. As she prepares to pour the rest down the space toilet, she stops, then adds, 

LOVELACE

To Eris. Thanks for reminding me that… we don’t have to be what people made us to be. 

MINKOWSKI

Eris? 

LOVELACE

Ever met her, Hera? 

HERA

Should I have? 

LOVELACE

I’ll tell you both about her sometime. 

MINKOWSKI

That… that would be nice, yeah. 

She opens another bottle and takes a steadying breath. 

MINKOWSKI

To Gina Bernoulli, and everyone else serving with her. 

HERA

Andrin Birkhoff, Leilani Jordan, and David Klein, according to the official roster. 

MINKOWSKI

Thank you, Hera. 

LOVELACE

To the crew of the Tiamat, getting screwed around with by our alien overlords decades before we got in on the fun. Speaking of which… to Jacobi. The other one. My bad. 

MINKOWSKI

Oh, right. That was… 

LOVELACE

Yeah. 

MINKOWSKI

If we’re doing him, then… 

She hesitates, again. They _are_ on the Urania, after all. 

HERA

It’s ok, commander. Whatever you need to do. 

MINKOWSKI

I don’t think it should be me. 

LOVELACE

To Alana Maxwell. Jacobi's handling your stuff and we're gonna let him since that's his turf. Please don't haunt us. 

MINKOWSKI

Hera, do you want to say something, or...? 

HERA

(pause)

Saying things feels so... human. So. I’m going to leave it there. 

LOVELACE

Oh, and to Warren Kepler, I’m pouring your booze into space, again. Die mad about it. 

Minkowski laughs despite herself. 

LOVELACE

Which one of you really did it, anyway? 

MINKOWSKI

I can neither confirm or deny anything. 

HERA

My lips are sealed. Metaphorically speaking. 

It’s a little absurd, and everyone with a biological component is a little tipsy. Minkowski and Lovelace catch each other’s eyes and break into short giggles. That was something so stupid that felt like it mattered so much, back then, when it happened. 

A lot has happened since then. Minkowski’s smile fades. 

MINKOWSKI

If we’re taking responsibility for the people we killed… 

She raises her latest bottle half-heartedly. 

MINKOWSKI

To Marcus Cutter, or whoever he was. I don’t feel as bad about it as maybe I ought to, but… be at peace. 

LOVELACE

Don’t come back. 

HERA

If you know what’s good for you. 

LOVELACE

Do we want to add Riemann to this? 

MINKOWSKI

He was a hired goon who by all accounts did it for the love of bashing skulls, but he was still a person, I guess. 

LOVELACE

To Victor Riemann. We knew nothing about you. 

MINKOWSKI

And to Rachel Young. You were terrifying. 

There’s a silence as everyone who doesn’t have a computer for a brain tries to remember if they’ve left anyone out. 

HERA

… To Miranda Pryce. You made me, and now I'm going to be better than you. 

LOVELACE

Should we… 

She glances over at Minkowski, who stiffens. Neither woman says anything. 

HERA

To Douglas Eiffel. 

(beat)

I know. 

Lovelace looks like she’s about to say something, and then stops. Minkowski, expression rigid, pours the rest of the alcohol down the toilet and slams the lid. Without the background noise of the vacuum, it’s very silent. 

The two women and the AI around them sit together, without speaking, for several very long moments. 

MINKOWSKI

They're gone. 

LOVELACE

... yeah. 

MINKOWSKI

We did what we came here to do. For Doug Eiffel. Who is asleep, in the other room. 

There is an awkward silence. 

MINKOWSKI (cont.)

That was unnecessary. I'm sorry. 

LOVELACE

It's been a lot. 

MINKOWSKI

It really is just us left, isn't it. After everything. 

They pack up the empty bottles back into the duffel bag. 

HERA

Is... that it? Is it over? 

MINKOWSKI

There's nothing left to do. 

HERA

Are we supposed to feel better now? 

(beat)

Because I don't really feel better now. 

MINKOWSKI

Not yet. Eventually. 

HERA

The only one of these things I've ever been to ended in an unorthodox way-- 

LOVELACE

You're welcome. 

HERA

So I want to make sure I'm not... doing this wrong. 

MINKOWSKI

No, you’re doing amazing, Hera. It just takes time. And maybe we needed to do this first to make it feel real. To know that it's over. 

(sighs)

I didn't think it was possible to feel even lonelier after leaving the Hephaestus. 

LOVELACE

...Sleepover in my room tonight? 

MINKOWSKI 

Huh? 

Between Lovelace steering the mood into a 180 and the fuzz of alcohol in her brain, Minkowski isn’t sure she heard correctly, and maybe Lovelace isn’t either. But she buckles down on her offer nonetheless. 

LOVELACE

The only thing worse than drinking alone at a time like this is trying to fall asleep alone. Besides, 

She pokes Minkowski in the sternum - well above her gunshot wound, but her meaning is still clear. 

LOVELACE

You still need all the rest you can get. 

Minkowski seems to think it, as if debating the impulse to argue the point. Or maybe she’s beginning to feel just how tired she truly is. 

MINKOWSKI 

(finally, heavily)

...yeah… we all do. 

(beat) 

But tell you what, if you're so concerned for my health, how about you haul your stuff to my room for the night? 

LOVELACE

I think I can live with that. 

**Author's Note:**

> This started as an exchange on our group chat where we kept bouncing lines off each other. If you drop by the [#wolf-359 channel of the Podcast Girls Week server](https://discord.gg/64FKbX6) you can join us in doing this kind of thing in real time.  
> Work skin was developed by adapting [this CSS template.](https://johnaugust.com/2004/screenbox)


End file.
